no not a silver bell from santa's sleigh but a book for my nephew. I have at last stopped procrastinating and started shopping (very fun but bad for the budget!!) The first fruits of my labors arrived yesterday and the rest should follow shortly. This xmas I have resolved to do as much as possible on line as the older I get the less tolerant I am of crowds. I just can't see the fun of fighting for a parking space, being jostled in the mall then waiting in line to pay. I would much rather shop at home in my jammies with a cup of hot chocolate or glass of wine.
We had a nice thanksgiving last week and were dining on left overs for days, yum! Pumpkin pie for breakfast is a very nice way to start the day.
Last weekend D came to say and I am pleased to report that the sleepover was indeed a sleep over!! Everyone slept! The boys both had fun and I hope that he will come to stay again soon, so does sam who has a warhammer marathon planned.
Schoolwise things are moving along, Sam has almost finished Singapore Math 2B and seems to have grasped all the concepts really well, even if he does resort to using his fingers still for some of the problems. He is really enjoying the on-line math game timez attach at the moment. What better way to learn your times tables than by fighting monsters and ogres. We had a slight panic when it was suggested that the game contained spy-ware but M has checked it all out and assures me it is safe to play and sam is delighted.
We have just started a radish science experiments and are trying to grow radishes three different ways. We have to observer and record them each day and there is also an experiment to do with each lesson. Sam is enjoying it and insists on checking on the seeds several times a day.
We are well into the second SOTW and are about to start the byzantine empire. Sam should realy enjoy it, the byzantines were a blood thirsty lot. It would be nice if we could fit in a trip to istanbul in the next year to show him where it all happened. Istanbul is such a fantastic city with so much to see and do.
The holds have arrived for the climbing wall so looks like this weekend we will be putting it up. Sam is very excited and has all sort of grand plans about spending all his free time in garage trying to conquer the wall. It will definately be a good way for him to expend energy on rainy days. Shame we can't teach the dogs to climb then I wouldn't have to take them out when it is raining!
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Happy Thanksgiving
Happy Thanksgiving to you all, may your day be filled with loved ones, friends and good food!
We have had a nice day here, Sam and I spent the day making pumpkin pie, guduruni and watching clips on history.com and reading about thanksgiving. Sam was really into the cooking and did a good job with the pie and the guduruni.
We also talked about the things we are grateful for, it is nice to take a day out to think about all the people and things that we appreciate. I am so grateful to have a wonderful husband and son and fantastic family and friends who are always there when I need them. Thank you all for being so fantastic!
We have had a nice day here, Sam and I spent the day making pumpkin pie, guduruni and watching clips on history.com and reading about thanksgiving. Sam was really into the cooking and did a good job with the pie and the guduruni.
We also talked about the things we are grateful for, it is nice to take a day out to think about all the people and things that we appreciate. I am so grateful to have a wonderful husband and son and fantastic family and friends who are always there when I need them. Thank you all for being so fantastic!
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Brilliant Birmingham
We had a great family weekend in birmingham this last weekend. I know it sounds like an unlikely place for a weekend get away, not as glamorous as London or Paris but fun all the same. We stayed right in the center in a nice hotel within walking distance of everything. It had fluffy robes a huge bed and a free dvd library (a big hit with sam). We spent the weekend doing the aquarium, thinktank (www.thinktank.ac) and wandering around the bullring (huge shopping mall) and the center in general. We did lots of window shopping especially at the Apple store and Games Workshop and Borders. There was german christmas market, bringing back lots of happy memories for me. It as a very relaxing weekend and as much as I love the pups it was nice not to have to be up at 6 to take them out. I think they enjoyed their weekend at the kennels, this new one has huge paddock for them to run around.
Thinktank was fantastic, it is an interactive science museum that also covers the history of birmingham. The highlight for sam was the workshop we went to on the Lego Mindstorm Robot. We got to program the robot and the workshop leader set us all challenges to complete. M and I were very impressed with what the robot is able to do so much so that we are considering getting one for sam for xmas. Learning how to use it and programme it would be a good challenge for him and it is the sort of thing that he can make more complex as he learns more about programming.
Apart from Home Ed group we have had a quiet week. Our theme this session was autumn/thanksgiving and it was mainly all craft activities. We also had the woman who runs the local hedgehog sanctuary come along to speak to the children. She brought a young hedgehog called theo and the children were enthralled. They were all allowed to touch him and of course sam wanted to take him home to add to our zoo! I think everyone enjoyed the session, we have a nice group of families who come on a regular basis and I think children and adults alike get a lot out of the sessions.
Tomorrow is thanksgiving and sam and I will spend the day baking, doing school work and learning about the holiday. M is home in the evening so we will have a big family dinner and I think that we may even give the dogs a thanksgiving platter.
Thinktank was fantastic, it is an interactive science museum that also covers the history of birmingham. The highlight for sam was the workshop we went to on the Lego Mindstorm Robot. We got to program the robot and the workshop leader set us all challenges to complete. M and I were very impressed with what the robot is able to do so much so that we are considering getting one for sam for xmas. Learning how to use it and programme it would be a good challenge for him and it is the sort of thing that he can make more complex as he learns more about programming.
Apart from Home Ed group we have had a quiet week. Our theme this session was autumn/thanksgiving and it was mainly all craft activities. We also had the woman who runs the local hedgehog sanctuary come along to speak to the children. She brought a young hedgehog called theo and the children were enthralled. They were all allowed to touch him and of course sam wanted to take him home to add to our zoo! I think everyone enjoyed the session, we have a nice group of families who come on a regular basis and I think children and adults alike get a lot out of the sessions.
Tomorrow is thanksgiving and sam and I will spend the day baking, doing school work and learning about the holiday. M is home in the evening so we will have a big family dinner and I think that we may even give the dogs a thanksgiving platter.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
The birthday boy
Today is Rogue's first birthday! He is certainly an interesting dog, always up to something and always making us laugh.
Sam's bionicle army
This is part of sam's collection of lego bionicles. He has changed and adapted most of them from their original incarnation.
Fun in the sun
Here are the all the boys-and girls! This is the first time we have been all together since last christmas and it was great to catch up with everyone.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Battlestations everyone!
The playroom (hence forth refered to as the games room) now looks like a ready room from the Imperial War Museum. Set up on two wallpaper tables are the two boards that make up battlefield for warhammer. The boys have started to construct a battle field on the boards, complete with hills, wreckage and water features. It is looking very cool and sam is dying to play a game on the board. I think it will be a continual work in progress as there will always be something to add or change. It is nice that we have finally found a use for the games room, it had become a bit of a dumping ground. I think between the climbing wall that is under construction and the games room I am going to have the middle floor to myself a lot in the future! Sam loves going to daddy's gym and gets most indignant when Matthew works out without him. Today sam went down to do pull ups and spar with daddy. Talk about a personalised PE lesson and all without having to endure communal changing rooms. Communal changing rooms was what I hated most about PE in school, especially once I hit high school, thank goodness I only had to do one semester of PE.
Life has been flowing along here, a nice mix of school work, friends and family. Schoolwise we are pretty much back on track after our long half term. Next week we start growing radishes as part of a month long science project. I just hope they fare better than most of our science experiments which can sometimes be less than spectacular. Sam is enjoying drawing and writing at the moment which makes a nice change. His handwriting is really coming on and even his spelling is improving. I think that the daily spelling tests are helping not so much because they are teaching him to spell specific words but rather to get him used to the idea of sounding something out to spell it and the different letter families. Our read aloud at the moment is Strawberry Girl, which is set in rural Florida in 1900 and all the characters speak in the vernacular. Sam thinks it is highly amusing and enjoys copying the words and accents. Things are now 'purity' rather than 'pretty' and so on. He sounds very southern at times, my nana and poppa would be proud of him.
M's parents came up at the weekend and we had a nice visit. We had a special birthday dinner for my mil as the actual day falls while they are away on holiday. It was lovely to see them and to catch up. Sam enjoyed playing lego with them and then after dinner all the boys had a game of warhammer, surprise, surprise! Sam won thought I am not sure that the rules were stictly adhered to on his part.
Sunday saw us venture into the city centre to go to games workshop. As part of his hobby badge for beavers he has to go in and play 4 times. I think in future we will try to go in on a weekday afternoon, it was just far too busy. They joined three tables to make up one game and it was so big that sam only got to fire once in a 90 minute game. Most of the players were pretty fed up by the end of the game. The city centre was just as packed as games workshop, Christmas shopping must have begun. I think I will be doing most of mine on line, I don't function well in crowds and I hate waiting in line. Think I am turning into a grumpy old lady as I approach my big birthday.
Life has been flowing along here, a nice mix of school work, friends and family. Schoolwise we are pretty much back on track after our long half term. Next week we start growing radishes as part of a month long science project. I just hope they fare better than most of our science experiments which can sometimes be less than spectacular. Sam is enjoying drawing and writing at the moment which makes a nice change. His handwriting is really coming on and even his spelling is improving. I think that the daily spelling tests are helping not so much because they are teaching him to spell specific words but rather to get him used to the idea of sounding something out to spell it and the different letter families. Our read aloud at the moment is Strawberry Girl, which is set in rural Florida in 1900 and all the characters speak in the vernacular. Sam thinks it is highly amusing and enjoys copying the words and accents. Things are now 'purity' rather than 'pretty' and so on. He sounds very southern at times, my nana and poppa would be proud of him.
M's parents came up at the weekend and we had a nice visit. We had a special birthday dinner for my mil as the actual day falls while they are away on holiday. It was lovely to see them and to catch up. Sam enjoyed playing lego with them and then after dinner all the boys had a game of warhammer, surprise, surprise! Sam won thought I am not sure that the rules were stictly adhered to on his part.
Sunday saw us venture into the city centre to go to games workshop. As part of his hobby badge for beavers he has to go in and play 4 times. I think in future we will try to go in on a weekday afternoon, it was just far too busy. They joined three tables to make up one game and it was so big that sam only got to fire once in a 90 minute game. Most of the players were pretty fed up by the end of the game. The city centre was just as packed as games workshop, Christmas shopping must have begun. I think I will be doing most of mine on line, I don't function well in crowds and I hate waiting in line. Think I am turning into a grumpy old lady as I approach my big birthday.
Tuesday, November 06, 2007
A very multicultural week
We have had a very mutlicultural week here and it is only tuesday! It started last week with Halloween, complete with American treats and decorations (thank you auntie p!), then on to french on friday and rounded off with guy fawkes day and diwali at home ed group yesterday. We had activities for both guy fawkes and diwali at home ed group yesterday, not sure how well they went together, but the children seemed to enjoy themselves and hopefully learned a little about each holiday. It was a complete glitter session. My hands are still blue from all the glitter glue on sam's rocket. The fizzy rockets were a mixed bag, the type of lid on the film cannister seems to determine whether the rocket will launch or not, unfortunately we didn't discover that until halfway through the launching process. Oh well, we will know for next time.
Sam is now working on two badges for beavers, the Hobby badge and the Animal friend badge. Three guesses as to the hobby he has chosen-that's right warhammer! One of the things he has to do is to play the game 4 times at games workshop. He and I went on sunday and he was so excited. It was the biggest game he has played, there were about 5 on each side. He held is own really well and was by far the most blood thirsty of all the boys despite being the youngest. He will have to do a little presentation about warhammer to his troop which shouldn't be a problem as he can talk about it for hours! The trick will be to get him to order his thoughts and keep it brief. He is taking care of Orlando for his Animal friend badge and is petitioning to be allowed to take him in when he does his talk. Somehow I don't think that Orlando would enjoy it, especially as monday is his food day.
Sam is now working on two badges for beavers, the Hobby badge and the Animal friend badge. Three guesses as to the hobby he has chosen-that's right warhammer! One of the things he has to do is to play the game 4 times at games workshop. He and I went on sunday and he was so excited. It was the biggest game he has played, there were about 5 on each side. He held is own really well and was by far the most blood thirsty of all the boys despite being the youngest. He will have to do a little presentation about warhammer to his troop which shouldn't be a problem as he can talk about it for hours! The trick will be to get him to order his thoughts and keep it brief. He is taking care of Orlando for his Animal friend badge and is petitioning to be allowed to take him in when he does his talk. Somehow I don't think that Orlando would enjoy it, especially as monday is his food day.
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